In 2022, Oklahoma City’s popular young brewery, the Vanessa House Beer Co., celebrated Earth Day with a new beer, “Always Sunny In Rad City.” Vanessa House commemorated the occasion with a lively, family-friendly festival, saluting the holiday and the limited-edition beer. Sunny’s aptly named libation was brewed by the sun, making it the perfect brew to launch on Earth Day.
The unique brew was the result of Vanessa House being the first brewery in Oklahoma to run on solar power. It all started in the fall of 2021 when the local solar energy company EightTwenty installed a 60.8 kW, 135-panel solar power installation on the roof of the building where Vanessa House operates.
“I’m excited to say Vanessa House is now a producer of energy, not just beer,” Evan Smith, one of Vanessa House’s co-owners, said in a statement. “Installing solar with EightTwenty is another step in the right direction of reducing our environmental impact and serving as a steward of our community.”
Photo Courtesy Vanessa House Beer Company
That it took from October to April to make the sun-fueled beer a reality was primarily due to Mother Nature. As Andrew Carrales, another Vanessa House co-founder/co-owner, revealed to The Business Download, the weather was a contributing factor behind the extended brewing process.
“By the time we actually got it installed, it was the middle of winter when it was dark and dreary,” Carrales explained. “It was generating some power, but you really didn’t see the impact until spring.”
The solar installation certainly had an impact on several levels. According to an EightTwenty press release, Vanessa House’s solar-powered building removed nearly 53,000 pounds of carbon emissions in its first six months, equivalent to planting 395 mature trees.
Photo Courtesy Vanessa House Beer Company
Carrales also stated that using solar energy has generated a significant drop in their electrical usage, resulting in major monetary savings that have been especially welcome during the pandemic and post-pandemic economies. He also shared that there have been occasions during the sunny summer months that they have even produced an excess of electricity, which they have sold back to the local electric company and then re-distributed out around Oklahoma City.
Vanessa House was originally launched in Norman, Oklahoma, by Carrales, Evan Smith, his brother Zac, Nick White, and Justin Wright, who became buddies while attending the University of Oklahoma. Vanessa House came from the quintet forming their friendship while hanging out at a house on Vanessa Avenue in Norman.
The Vanessa House guys have brought a fresh, innovative approach to their brewing and bar-running operations. It’s reflected in the beers they create — such as their popular slushie-style sour ales — and their openness to the solar roof project, an idea devised by the owner of the building where Vanessa House is located.
Photo Courtesy Vanessa House Beer Co
Others have noticed the solar roof, too. In 2023, Vanessa House held an Earth Day event with a neighboring brewery that had recently added its own solar roof — making it a highly eco-friendly bar crawl.
Photo Courtesy Vanessa House Beer Company
While the solar roof array obviously represents Vanessa House’s most impressive sustainability-centric project, Carrales pointed out that it isn’t the brewery’s only green program. The company has long donated its spent grain — the food waste that results from the brewing process — to local farmers. He added that the solar roof’s success has also heightened Vanessa House’s interest in running its business in an even more environmentally conscious way going forward.
